posted by Shelley
The other night in Wal-mart, I saw a kid that used ride my bus. He certainly wasn’t a kid anymore, but I recognized him right off. Now he wasn’t a problem child, but was a little mischievous in the day — he tested me and the rules quite often. Back then, he pretty much ignored me except when I’d had enough of the horseplay and my face turned red. Once the face was red EVERYONE turned into an instant angel.
As soon as this gentleman saw me in the canned goods aisle, he rushed up and gave me a big ole’ squeeze and said how good it was to see me again. We talked about a few of the other kids (mainly his relatives who also used to ride the bus and are spending their adulthood to date in jails across the country), and I asked him about his life now. It was fun stuff! About that time, the guy he was with rounded the corner with a cart and approached us. My old bus student exclaimed as he pointed at me with both arms in the air, “Right here is the best bus driver in the whole world!!”
I beamed with pride and under my breath I was probably saying something like, “Damn, I rock!” or “I am so awesome — I was a positive influence in this person’s life!” Oh yah, I was diggin’ it.
His next comment was, “SHE PLAYED AC/DC ON THE BUS!!!”
Whaaaaaaa? That’s what he remembered??
Guess that goes to show that the little things you do in life can have the greatest impact on others. People don’t always remember the big things. I had hoped to be remembered as the bus driver who purchased coats for the kids who didn’t have one (at a time when I didn’t have a ton of money myself), or the one who always asked about grades and encouraged successes, or even the bus driver who offered a cheerful good morning to each one of them by name when they stepped foot on the bus. Nope! I’m the one who played AC/DC over the speakers (and most likely sang along). Go me! It could be worse.